Greetings, everyone, and thank you for joining us for this week’s edition of GTV.
I’m Don Valiant and this is the news from Gyeonggi Province this week.

Article 1. 8th Gyeonggi Creative Business Idea Contest (1121-1)
[Anchor’s Headline] On November 18, the 8th Up Creation Audition took place at the Gyeonggi Creative Economy Innovation Center. Gyeonggi Province has been organizing this event regularly to help businesses with creative items and nascent potential connect with investors.

▶ Gyeonggi Creative Economy Innovation Center (November 18)
Up Creation Audition
Participants have been screened from among those in fields related to creative technology who have less than 7 years of operation experience.
▶ Baek Seung-tae / Audition Participant
“This system reports real time information about the immediate driving environment as well as predictions about outside environments that are generated by an analysis engine constantly working on cloud information…”

▶ Presentations Judged by Potential Investors and Specialists
Out of 54 participants, 6 were selected as today’s finalists. These finalists presented their business items in front of potential investors and specialists who provided assessment feedback as well as advice on site.
▶ Winners to Receive Support for Entrance to Crowdfunding
Winners will also receive provincial support of KRW 1.5 million for the entrance to crowdfunding services, a means of online financing.
▶ Woo Jae-gyeong / Audition Winner
“There are a large number of bio-signal interpretation technologies available, but most are very expensive. We developed a low-cost solution using microwaves for the first time. I think they gave us a high score for that.”

▶ This Year’s 7 Winners Secured Investments of KRW 2 Billion
The seven winners of this year’s four preceding Up Creation Audition events have so far succeeded in securing investments totaling nearly KRW 2 million.
▶ Oh Byeong-gwon / Director General, Gyeonggi Province Planning & Coordination Office
“We will develop an improved auditioning method so as to enable more promising new businesses to find investors and realize their potential.”
The Up Creation Audition program of Gyeonggi Province is providing new creative businesses with an excellent opportunity to have their potential directly verified by potential investors while also securing their investment.

Article 2. Gyeonggi Selects Best Farmhouse Restaurants (1121-2)
[Anchor’s Headline] The Rural Development Administration of Korea operates a farmhouse restaurant designation system that seeks to preserve traditional Korean rural cuisine. The Gyeonggi arm of this national system recently designated additional farmhouse restaurants in the province.

▶ Farmhouse Restaurant, Icheon City
This farmhouse restaurant in Icheon (이천) City specializes in dumplings based on a traditional local recipe. These dumplings use 13 ingredients including local vegetables and aged bean soy sauce.
▶ Byeoseom Mandu
Known as ‘rice sag dumplings’ for their pillow-like shape, these dumplings were traditionally eaten in this region on the first full moon day of lunar January to convey wishes for a bountiful year.
▶ Park Jin-seok / Client from Osan City
“I came with my mother. She said with tears that the food here reminded her of what her mother used to cook for her.”

▶ Farmhouse Restaurant, Yongin City
This farmhouse restaurant in Yongin (용인) City offers a combination of pork, white kimchi and a special sauce in a food box with three compartments.
▶ Choi Yeon-tae / Client from Yongin City
“This restaurant can offer what others can’t. This [farmhouse restaurant designation] will also help in the promotion of the region.”

▶ Experiential Programs Offered to Visitors
Most farmhouse restaurants also offer experiential programs to visitors with the aim of promoting traditional cuisine. At this farmhouse restaurant, participants can learn how to make local specialty pancakes with seasonal vegetables.
▶ Kim Mal-ja / Farmhouse Restaurant Owner
“It is not the same as the usual pancake making that anyone can do. I teach the entire process of cooking in a professional manner using good ingredients.”
There are nine farmhouse restaurants designated in Gyeonggi Province. At these restaurants, visitors can enjoy long-forgotten tastes of traditional foods while also learning to make some of them.

Article 3. Gyeonggi Meets Public in Open Talks on Provincial Millennium (1122-1)
[Anchor’s Headline] The year 2018 marks the thousandth anniversary of the birth of Gyeonggi Province. To commemorate this occasion, Gyeonggi Province has begun developing millennium celebration projects, first through public meetings.

▶ Good Morning House (November 17)
Talks about Gyeonggi Province
The public meetings took place as five weekly sessions of open talks titled ‘Talks about Gyeonggi Province’ that ended on October 27.
▶ Kim A-rim / Yongin City Resident
“Can you tell us why we should learn and have knowledge about history?”

▶ Kim Hoon / Novelist
“Past history can tell us what our future will be.”

▶ Talks on Gyeonggi Province’s Past and Future
Each weekly talk session was conducted on a different topic – including the foods, attractions, history and cultural heritages of the province – with the final session reserved for communication with youths.
▶ Kim Mi-ae / Seongnam City Resident
“It was a very meaningful time for me and was a learning experience about the history of the province and good places to visit as well as the topics discussed by youths,”
Organized jointly by Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation, Talks about Gyeonggi Province revisited the past millennium of the province led by scholars and cultural leaders. It ended on November 23.
▶ Kim Gyu-sang / Chief Official, Gyeonggi Province Cultural Foundation Team
“We organized these open talks so as to help us identify the areas that we should focus on in the formation of provincial visions for the next millennium.”
The issues discussed during the five talk sessions will also be used as supporting data for the preparation of provincial millennium celebration projects.

Article 4. Gyeonggi Museum Opens Joseon Dynasty Attire Exhibition (1122-3)
[Anchor’s Headline] In commemoration of its twentieth anniversary, the Gyeonggi Provincial Museum opened an exhibition, ‘The Attire and Patterns of the Joseon (조선) Dynasty’, that showcases actual clothing and related relics from the Joseon Dynasty.

▶ Screen Painting of King Heonjong’s Post-Wedding Felicitation Ceremony (National Treasure 733-2)
A screen painting of the formal felicitation ceremony after the royal wedding of King Hyeonjong (현종), the 24th king of Joseon Dynasty, shows court attire worn by the king and officials.
▶ Formal Attire and Court Apparel Worn in Ceremonial Occasions
One of the notable items shown at the exhibition is a set of restored court apparel excavated from the tomb of a minister of the early Joseon (조선) Dynasty. It includes a kneelet with four beautiful patterns embroidered in gold representing good fortune, wisdom, compassion and harmony.
▶ Lee Hyun-a / Visitor from Seoul
“This is the first time I saw the formal attire actually worn during the Joseon Dynasty. I was also interested in the excavated items shown in a separate section.”

▶ Formal Attire of Officers
Also displayed was the formal attire of officials worn when they performed official duties such as meetings with foreign envoys.
▶ Formal Attire of Scholars
The attire of scholars is characterized by their modest white yet solemn designs.
▶ Formal Attire of Ladies
The formal apparel of noblewomen shows differences between early and later Joseon times. Green was the most revered color in both times.
▶ Gyeonggi Provincial Museum
‘The Attire and Patterns of Joseon Dynasty’ (Until March 5)
This special exhibition showcasing more than 60 actual costumes of the Joseon (조선) Dynasty and many related items will run until March 5.
▶ Jeong Mi-suk / Curator, Gyeonggi Provincial Museum
“This exhibition focuses on formal attire, among others, and the various patterns depicted on them. These patterns are especially elaborate on the chest and below the knees.”
There are also less formal items such as waistcoats and vests. These are supplements worn while on travel, but their free style tells us more about the personal beauty sense of Korean ancestors.

Article 5. Gyeonggi Supports Needy Neighbors during Winter (161123-2)
[Anchor’s Headline]
For those who are economically underprivileged and facing difficulties getting through the winter, Gyeonggi Province plans to provide seasonal assistance including living cost support.

Kim (김민교) left an abusive home when he was a young child and has since been living alone, struggling to make ends meet. Now 22 years old, he serves as a commuting public service aide, an alternative to military service, and is in dire straits.
▶ Kim Min-gyo (alias) / Osan City Resident
“With a public service aide salary of only KRW 200,000, I just don’t know how to get through the winter with all the costs of heating and living. I am in a horrible situation.”

▶ Gyeonggi Province Begins Identifying Individuals in Difficult Circumstances
Gyeonggi Province began intensifying its search for individuals in need of support. This includes those who are unable to pay for national health insurance and utility services for prolonged periods of time and those who are contingently in difficult circumstances.
▶ Up to KRW 1,130,000 to be Paid in Winter Cost Support
The amount of this winter cost support will be up to KRW 1,130,000 based on a 4-person household.
▶ Kim Mun-hwan / Director, Gyeonggi Province Welfare Policy Division
“We will continue to identify those who are in welfare blind spots through to February and provide them with support for the cost of clothing, living and medical services for 3 to 6 months to help them get through the winter.”
This monetary support will be provided in addition to welfare services. Gyeonggi Province will work in cooperation with the police and utility service organizations to identify individuals who need winter support.

Article 6. Book Reading Promotion Events Tour Gyeonggi Province (1123-3)
[Anchor’s Headline] Gyeonggi Province is operating a book-reading culture program that brings library services for those who are isolated from information. Our reporter followed this visiting library, known as the ‘Mobile Healing Library.’

Today, this mobile library visited individuals with intellectual disorders who, never having had the joy of experiencing reading, were deeply immersed in a story read by a narrator.
▶ Kim Bo-yeong / Book-reading Culture Program Participant
“It is interesting, and it made me feel easier conversing with others.”

▶ Book-reading Culture Program Targets Those Isolated from Information
The book-reading culture program provides on-site library services to those isolated from information such as individuals with intellectual disabilities, unmarried mothers and seniors with limited mobility
▶ Suwon Seongyeon Library (November 21)
‘Book Concert for Individuals Isolated from Information’
In addition to normal library services and narrations, this program also includes various classroom activities through which participants can enjoy writing, painting and the crafting of objects that are related to the stories they read.
▶ Lee Jeong-suk (aged 72) / Book-reading Culture Program Participant
“I wrote what I wanted to say to my parents. Whenever I read it, my eyes well up with tears. During the class, I am so carried away with the story that I cry one minute and laugh the next.”
At one such class, unmarried mothers created footwear for their babies.
▶ Park Gyeong-sukn / Chief Official, Gyeonggi Province Library Support Team
“Next year, we will expand the program to include individuals with medical problems as well as youth rehabilitation school students.”
The library services and associated programs of Gyeonggi Province’s Book-reading Culture Program are making a difference in the lives of those who are deprived of book-reading opportunities.

Article 7. Employment Conditions of Gyeonggi Social Workers to Improve (161124-3)
[Anchor’s Headline] Gyeonggi Province announced that, from next year, the range of social workers to which employment condition improvement, or ECI, payments are applied will undergo large-scale expansion.

▶ Suwon Welfare Center for Disabled
This welfare center for individuals with disabilities in Suwon (수원) City has 37 visiting social workers who perform the same jobs and receive equal treatment, except for Hong (홍진화) who does not qualify for ECI payment.
▶ Hong Jin-hwa / Social Worker
“I do the same jobs in the same place. I must admit that I sometimes feel excluded and lose motivation.”

▶ Recipients of ECI Payment to Increase 6-fold
Introduced for the first time this year by Gyeonggi Province, ECI payments were only applied to social workers at welfare institutes of certain standards. This caused equality issues with those who did not qualify.
▶ Choi Byeong-gil / Chief Official, Gyeonggi Province Welfare Planning Team
“From next year, social workers who are working at private facilities will also receive [the employment condition improvement payment].”
Those who are employed on a contract basis will also be entitled to ECI payments. However, the monthly payment amount will be reduced from KRW 100,000 to KRW 50,000.
▶ 16,000+ Social Workers to Receive ECI Payments from Next Year
As the result, the total number of social workers who receive ECI payments will increase to more than 16,000 next year.

Thank you for joining us for this week’s edition of GTV
We look forward to seeing you again next week.